Heat compensating dryer bearing



Dec. 26, 1967 E. o. BEACHLER 3,359,546

HEAT COMPENSATING DRYER BEARING Filed Oct. 24, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 z gd INVENTOR. 0n 4Q0 D. 564C456? m Cw a 6234" i ATTORNEYS Dec. 26, 1967 E.D.BEACHLER HEAT COMPENSATING DRYER BEARING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct.24, 1965 INVENTOR. Eon/420 0. 56404452 m' fi WATTO NEYS United StatesPatent 3,359,646 HEAT COMPENSATING DRYER BEARING Edward D. Beachler,Beloit, Wis., assignor to Beloit Corporation, Beloit, Wis., acorporation of Wisconsin Filed Oct. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 504,865 2 Claims.(Cl. 34-121) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Dryer for fibrous webs in whichsteam is passed through the drying cylinders through the support anddrive shafts for the cylinders. Expansion and contraction of each dryingcylinder and the support and drive shafts therefor, caused bydifferences in temperature between a cool and heated condition of thecylinder and its shafts, is compensated for by mounting one shaft on anaxial thrust bearing and by mounting the other shaft on a self-aligninghearing. The self-aligning bearing is supported on a swing arm pivotedto the frame of the machine, for movement about an axis extendingtransversely of the axis of rotation of the shaft, and spaced asubstantial distance from the axis of rotation of the shaft andangularly inwardly above the transverse axis of the self-aligninghearing, to accommodate expansion and contraction of the shafts anddrying cylinder, and to offset the thrust on the thrust bearing causedby the steam loads on the shafts and drum.

Background of the invention At the dry end section of paper machines,the moisture bearing web is directed in a serpentine path in wrappingrelation with a series of drying cylinders arranged in tiers, with thedrying cylinders in one tier staggered with respect to the dryingcylinders in the other tier. The web is partially wrapped about thecylinders by felts, which in turn pass from the end drying cylinders ofeach tier about a felt drying cylinder, before proceeding to the firstdrying cylinder in the respective tiers. In order to dry the web, thedrying cylinders are heated by steam under pressure. These dryingcylinders are of a large diameter and are relatively long, being atleast 20 inches long. As a result there is an appreciable change inlength of the drying cylinder from the time the drying cylinder, itsshaft and its bearings are cold, to the time the cylinder, its

shaft and hearing are heated by steam under pressure, supplied to thedrying cylinder to dry the web partially wrapped thereabout. Due to thelength and necessary large diameter of the drying cylinder together withits shafts, it has been difficult to compensate for these changes inlength of the shaft and changes in position of the support bearingstherefor.

Summary and objects of the invention A principal object of the presentinvention is to remedy the foregoing deficiencies by supporting at leastthe shaft on a movable bearing movable in accordance with changes inlength of the drying cylinder and tied to the support frame structurefor the drying cylinders.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a compensating bearingsupport and bearing for at least one end of a drying cylinder, in whichthe bearing support is supported on the dryer frame structure, forcontrolled movement with respect thereto in accordance with expansionand contraction of the drying cylinder.

Still another object of the invention is to improve upon the bearingsupports for the drying cylinders for paper machine dryers, bysupporting the bearing for the dryer shaft for swinging movement aboutan axis spaced from the axis of the shaft, and extending transverselythereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide an im- "ice provedsupport for the end of a drying cylinder support and drive shaft in theform of a self-aligning bearing sup ported on a swinging arm, supportedon the frame of the dryer structure for movement about an axis extendingtransversely of the axis of ratation of the dryer cylinder and spacedradially therefrom.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to timeas the following specification proceeds and with reference to theaccompanying drawings Where- IH: r

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation of a part of a typicaldry end section of a paper machine, showing bearing supports for thedrying cylinder shafts constructed in accordance with the principles ofthe present invention; and

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged detailed view with certain parts shown intransverse section, showing certain details of the drive and support fora drying cylinder supported in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, I haveshown in FIGURE 1 a part of a paper machine dry end section generallydesignated by reference numeral 10. The dry end section is shown asincluding drying cylinders 11, 11 of an upper tier of drying cylindersand a drying cylinder 12 of a lower tier of drying cylinders, staggeredwith respect to the drying cylinders 11 in the upper tier and having apaper web W partially wrapped about the drying cylinders of the upperand lower tiers of drying cylinders in a serpentine path. The paper webW is wrapped to the drying cylinders by upper and lower felts F,maintained in wrapping engagement with the web by felt rollers 13disposed between each pair of drying cylinders in the upper and lowertiers thereof.

The upper felt F is shown as being trained from the last drying cylinder11 upwardly around a series of idlers 14, 14 training the felt about afelt drying cylinder 15 like the drying cylinders 11, 11 and 12. Fromthe drying cylinder 15 the felt passes to the first drying cylinder ofthe upper tier of drying cylinders. The lower felt, in a like manner, istrained from the last drying cylinder 12 of the tier of drying cylindersabout a felt idler 16 and downward therefrom and about a drying cylinder(not shown) for drying the felt prior to passing of the felt to thefirst drying cylinder of the lower tier of drying cylinders.

The drying cylinders 11, 11 and 12, 12, as well as the felt dryer 15 areall supported on a frame structure 17 including a plurality ofvertically extending posts 18, 18, extending upwardly of a foundationfor the dryer end section and beams 19, 19 supported at their ends onsaid posts and extending for the length of the foundation and suitablyconnected together at their ends. The compensat ing bearing support foreach drying cylinder 11, 12 and 15 is the same, as is the drive andsupport means for the opposite ends of said drying cylinders, so onecompensating hearing support and support and drive only will herein beshown and described in detail.

As shown in FIGURE 2 the drying cylinder 11 has a support and driveshaft 20, extending from an end thereof and journalled in a gear housing21 on suitable bearings, herein shown as being roller end thrustbearings 22. The shaft 20 may be hollow to accommodate steam underpressure to pass therethrough to the interior of the drying cylinder 11to heat said drying cylinder and drive moisture from the web passingthereabout. The shaft 20 and drying cylinder 11 are driven from suitablegearing contained within the housing 21, and herein shown as including ahelical gear 23, keyed or otherwise secured thereto. A steam fitting maybe connected with the outer end of the shaft 20 to accommodate thesupply of steam through said shaft into the interior of the dryingcylinder 11.

The opposite end of the drum 11 has a shaft 25 extending therefromcoaxial with the shaft 2th and journalled in a compensating bearingsupport 26, as will now be described. The shaft 25 is hollow and mayhave a steam fitting thereon to accommodate the circulation of steamthrough the shaft 20 into one end of said drum and out from said drumthrough the shaft 25. The bearing support 26 is shown as being in theform of a swing arm 27 transversely pivoted to a bearing support box 29secured to and depending from a beam 19. As shown in FIGURE 1 the swingarm 27 has a bifurcated upper end portion, the furcations of whichextend along each side of the bearing box 29 and are pivotally mountedthereon on a pivot pin 30 extending transversely to the axis of rotationof the shaft 25. The swing arm 27 extends angularly outwardly of theaxis of the pivot pin 39 and extends downwardly therefrom and supportsthe bearing box 31 at its lower end, with the center thereof offset fromthe center of the pivot pin 30, to move upon expansion and contractionof the drum 11 and shaft 25 as the drum is heated from a cold to a hotposition. The bearing box 31 forms a support for self-aligning bearingmeans, herein generally shown as being a sleeve 32 having a sphericalbearing surface 33 engageable with a corresponding spherical bearingsupported within the bearing box 31. The bearing sleeve 32 and itssupport within the bearing box 29 forms a well known form ofself-aligning hearing, which may be of any commercial type and is notherein shown and described in detail except insofar as such a bearingaccommodates swinging movement of the swing arm 27 about the axes of thepin 30, upon expansion and contraction of the cylinder 11 and shafts 2t)and 25.

In FIGURE 2 I have shown a dash dot line A intersecting the center ofthe pin 30 and transverse center of the sleeve 32 of the self-aligningbearing, indicating the position of the transverse center of the sleeve32 when the drum 11, the shaft 25 and its bearing sleeve 32 are cold. Ihave also shown by broken line B the position of the transverse centerof the bearing 32 when the drum 11, the shaft 25 and the bearing sleeve32 are hot, and indicating the swing of the swing arm 27 from the coldto the hot positions of said swing arm, as steam is supplied to thedrying cylinder 11 through the center of the shaft 20 to heat thecylinder, its shaft and bearing.

It should here be noted that the transverse center of the sleeve 32 isoffset laterally from a vertical line extending through the center ofthe pin 30 and intersecting the rotational axis of the shaft 25. Whilethis may slightly increase the angularity of the shaft 25 and axis ofrotation of the drum 11 when hot, it offsets the steam load on thecylinder 11 and takes part of the thrust off of the back bearing 22.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which the inventionmay be embodied, it may readily be understood that various modificationsand variations in the invention may be attained without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

I claim as my invention: 1. In an apparatus for drying fibrous web, adrying cylinder about which a web is partially wrapped and heated, aframe, shaft members extending from opposite ends of the cylinder, meansfor passing steam axially through said cylinder, the steam causing axialexpansion of the cylinder and also imposing an axial load on thecylinder as it passes therethrough, a fixed axial thrust bearingmounting one of said shaft members, a self-aligning bearing mounted onthe other of said members, an elongated swingable arm connected at oneend to said self-aligning bearing, and a pivot pin pivotally mountingthe other end of said swingable arm to said frame,

said pivot pin being spaced radially of said selfaligning bearing andhaving an axis of rotation extending transversely of the aligned axes ofsaid shaft members and said bearings, said axis of said pivot pin andthe transverse axis of said self-aligning bearing being axially oifsetfrom one another in a direction along the axis of said cylinder forproviding an included angle of less than between the longitudinal axisof said swingable arm and the axes of said cylinder shaft membersthereby to intensify the resistance to the axial thrust imposed on saidshaft members when the steam load is transmitted to the swingable arm.2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said steam passing meanscomprises steam passages formed in said shaft members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,043,631 11/1912 Schmidt 308292,628,433 2/1953 OStertag 34-124 2,687,926 8/1954 Gair et a1. 308282,914,864 12/1959 Clem 34l21 3,016,273 1/1962 Benoit 30872 FREDERICK L.MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner.

JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Examiner. A. D. HERRMANN, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR DRYING FIBROUS WEB, A DRYING CYLINDER ABOUT WHICHA WEB IS PARTIALLY WRAPPED AND HEATED, A FRAME, SHAFT MEMBERS EXTENDINGFROM OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE CYLINDER, MEANS FOR PASSING STEAM AXIALLYTHROUGH SAID CYLINDER, THE STEAM CAUSING AXIAL EXPANSION OF THE CYLINDERAND ALSO IMPOSING AN AXIAL LOAD ON THE CYLINDER AS IT PASSESTHERETHROUGH, A FIXED AXIAL THRUST BEARING MOUNTING ONE OF SAID SHAFTMEMBERS; A SELF-ALIGNING BEARING MOUNTED ON THE OTHER OF SAID MEMBERS,AN ELONGATED SWINGABLE ARM CONNECTED AT ONE END TO SAID SELF-ALIGNINGBEARING, AND